In the evening, when the light is as soft as a kitten's paw, is the best time to entertain photography adventure. Tonight, no wind to blow the plants, and only mosquitoes to spoil the mood. The children call to me in the garden and often find me lying on my side on the paths or in the dirt. They think me strange, but I just dust myself off, hang my camera around my neck and smile. Cl. 'Old Blush' at left is very happy this spring. I have not fertilized her or anything. I'm afraid she would grow even larger. Won't you come on into the garden and play? 'Zepherine Droughin,' below, waits at the other arbor, her cerise pink petticoats shimmering in the perfect light. She had a little taken off the top and sides this weekend, and I fed her alfalfa pellets. The alfalfa is something new I'm...

Shsssh, the "Red Dirt Rambler" has gone to the garden center, yet again, for more plants. RDR wasn't going to do a hoe post. She was trying to let May 3rd slip by with no talk of hoes. She wasn't even going to visit other blogs having a hoe down, because she doesn't want the world to know how badly we're treated. RDR doesn't know it, but when she brought her laptop out to write, our spies saw May Dreams Garden's Hoe Down. While RDR is away, we're having a "parteah." However, while we're here, we've got a grievance or two that we want to air. It doesn't matter how dirty or tired we feel, we are expected to serve at her pleasure like she's the Queen of England or something. It's hard out here for a hoe. As Rodney Dangerfield would say, "We get no respect." Once she's disposed...

Roses You love the roses - so do I. I wish The sky would rain down roses, as they rain From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valley would be pink and white And soft to tread on. They would fall as light As feathers, smelling sweet: and it would be Like sleeping and yet waking, all at once. By: George Eliot (a/k/a Mary Ann Evans) I wonder if George Eliot would have been so famous if allowed to publish under her own name. For more musings, thank our host, Carolyn Gail, at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

'Bloodgood' Japanese maple Want some red in your yard? How about a Japanese maple like this? You can have one. I took this photo in a neighborhood in Edmond, Oklahoma. Although this is a great example of a mature 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple, which is one of the more common types of red Japanese maples available at the various garden centers, I would limb up some of the undergrowth to emphasize the beautiful crown. I don't own a 'Bloodgood', but I do grow two lovely Japanese maples. One, I've grown for three or four years. It is a very small, slow growing, cascading form called 'Crimson Queen' (Acer palmatum var. dissectum) and is shown with the angel below. This is an excellent time of year to plant trees and shrubs, especially since this spring is cool, rainy and slowly creeping toward summer. Some years we have drought and heat in April,...